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WEST JORDAN — Newly unsealed search warrants provide additional insight into what police describe as a lack of cooperation from two teenage girls who accused a convicted sex offender of kidnapping and sexually assaulting them.
Andrew James Gwilliam, 35, is currently being held in the Utah State Prison while investigators determine whether he violated his parole. He spent nearly a decade in prison for attempted forcible sexual abuse and the kidnapping six young girls and women — ranging in age from 12 to 20 — in the Sandy area in 2001 and 2002.
On Nov. 6 West Jordan police were called to the Hampton Inn, 3923 W. Center Park Dr., on a report of two 14-year-old girls who "were held hostage and were sexually assaulted," according to the latest in a series of search warrant affidavits filed in 3rd District Court.
But since then, police have said the girls have been uncooperative.
The latest search warrants says a hotel employee called 911 after the girls told the staff member what had allegedly happened to them. But while on the phone with emergency dispatchers, the hotel worker said the teens "were now leaving and the female did not want to file a report," according to the warrants.
Later, when a detective attempted to conduct a follow-up interview with one of the girls, who is now 15, she called and canceled just hours before the appointment, an affidavit states. Police also attempted to serve a search warrant on the other girl to collect DNA, but were unable to locate her within the 10-day time frame allowed by the warrant.
She "has been uncooperative since the original interview and has not been in contact with (police) or the Division of Child and Family Services after several attempts," the warrant states.
During a parole violation hearing at the Utah State Prison last week, Gwilliam told a Utah Board of Pardons and Parole member that he is "not guilty" of the accusations.
His attorney, Michael Holje, said after the hearing, "I do believe there's an awful lot more to this story that hasn't been presented. I think what is out there in the public right now is factually inaccurate, and I think if this investigation continues, you'll likely see that play out."
West Jordan police, however, noted in their search warrant affidavit: "The evidence located within the hotel room and vehicle is consistent with a sexual encounter and beyond what was disclosed (by the girls)."
Surveillance video from the hotel shows Gwilliam arriving in a car with the two girls at the hotel, getting out and all three walking in a side door, the report states.
No criminal charges in the November case have been filed against Gwilliam but investigators have said they are still pursuing charges.
Gwilliam was released from prison in January 2012. As part of the conditions of his parole, he was not allowed to have unauthorized contact with children. He is also a registered sex offender.
